ONELIFE #38 – English

ONELIFE
M A K I N G T H E M O S T O F Y O U R W O R L D
FOREVER HOUSE
Visiting modernist architect
Richard Neutra’s lesserknown
European creations
CHARGING POINT
How Shenzhen is pushing
to be the blueprint for a
sustainable future
ROCKETMAN
Just four men alive today
have walked on the Moon.
We meet one of them
I S S U E 3 8 SPRING 2019
O L Y M P I A N T R I U M P H
DRIVING THE NEW RANGE ROVER EVOQUE IN ATHENS

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COVER: MICHAEL SCHNABEL PHOTO: GREG WHITE
W E L C O M E
ISSUE 38
TAKE THE PATH LESS TRAVELLED...
Welcome to Onelife, the magazine exclusively for Land Rover owners. This latest issue continues to live up to its name,
with stunning photography and insightful stories that remind us to get the best out of life – by going above and beyond.
Read on for a rich variety of perspectives from around the globe: from an innovative eco-city in China and a fascinating
carnival subculture in Brazil, to meeting an American astronaut and a top British fashion model and activist who epitomises
urban cool. And of course, delve into the world of the latest vehicles from Land Rover, with an in-depth drive of the new
Range Rover Evoque, evocative experiences in the Range Rover Velar and the Range Rover Sport PHEV, and a first glimpse
of the eagerly-awaited new Land Rover Defender. Stories that put you in the driving seat, and help you make the most
of your world. Enjoy the issue.
5

08 26
08_ROUND-UP
From luxurious new hotels
and world events to travel
tips and trends, here’s
our curated pick of the
coolest things to see,
try and experience
20_PREVIEW
An automotive icon
is set to make an epic
comeback. The new
Land Rover Defender is
on its way – get a first
glimpse of it in testing
22_NEW MODELS
The design of the original
Range Rover Evoque
helped make it a huge
success. Now, the newgeneration
model is set to
carry the torch further
C O NT E N T S
26_DRIVE
Motoring journalist
Ken Gibson gets behind
the wheel of the all-new
Evoque in the buzzing
Greek capital, to file an
exclusive driving impression
32_PERSONALITIES
Edgy and effortlessly cool,
top British fashion model
Adwoa Aboah symbolises
London. She tells us about
what shapes her, and why
she loves this dynamic city
34_DESIGN
Fabled modernist architect
Richard Neutra’s Californian
work is renowned; his
European creations, less
so. We drive a Velar to one
of his projects in Germany
ISSUE 38
40_VOYAGES
Legendary explorer
Sir Ranulph Fiennes
recreates his 1969 Nile
expedition: this time with
actor Joseph Fiennes, and
a Land Rover Discovery
44_EXPLORERS
Only four human beings
alive today have set foot on
the Moon. Marking 50 years
since the first lunar landing,
we meet one of them: the
astronaut Charlie Duke
48_FRONTIERS
Personal travel to space
now no longer seems like
a sci-fi plotline. We look at
Virgin Galactic’s plans to
send paying passengers
into space – within months
50_TRAVEL
What’s driving the shift
from ‘Made in China’ to
‘Created in China’? The
ambitious thinkers we met
when visiting Shenzhen in
a Range Rover Sport PHEV
58_CRAFTSMANSHIP
George Bamford has
a booming business in
customising fine watches,
and a genuine passion for
Land Rovers. We interview
him – off-road, of course
62_CULTURE
Rio’s famous carnival
dazzles, but behind
the curtains is a unique
subculture. Filmmaker
Ben Holman explains the
phenomenon of Bate Bola
PHOTOGRAPHY: VANDER ARMANDO, STUDIO SCHNABEL, STEFEN CHOW, NEIRIN JONES
Editor in Chief David Barnwell Senior Editor Sachin Rao Senior Art Director Dan Delaney Art Editor Salman Naqvi Designer Thomas Saible Photo Director Elina Gathof
Production Director Marie Bressem Business Director Moray McLaren Account Manager Adrianna Juraszek Market and Production Manager Hannah McDonald
MD Production Unit Dr. Markus Schönmann. For Land Rover: Marketing Communications Senior Manager Jim Matthews Marketing Communications Manager Hannah Dixon

50 62
66_HERITAGE
A rusty old Range Rover
unearthed by Land Rover
Classic Works proved to
harbour a surprise. We
trace a journey with a
poignant soundtrack
70_INNOVATION
When beautiful design
meets innovative thinking,
a legacy is born. We
celebrate the latest annual
winners of the Land Rover
BORN Awards
74_PIONEERS
Wasfia Nazreen scales
mountains – not just the
famed Seven Summits,
but also challenging social
issues. Meet the firebrand
climber and activist
76_THE ESSAY
What lies beneath?
According to fossil-hunter
Ken Lacovara, the best
stories of all. Ken takes us
deep into the Earth itself,
in his trademark vivid style
78_COLUMN
Polar explorer
Ben Saunders recollects
his journeys in a Land Rover
Discovery, and reflects on
what makes adventures
truly memorable
C O N T R I B U T O R S
MICHAEL SCHNABEL
The award-winning German landscape photographer’s
distinctive visual style reflects his flair for sensory drama.
For this issue, Michael captured the new Range Rover Evoque
in Athens, skilfully conveying both their lively personalities.
VAISHALI DINAKARAN
A noted Indian motorsport journalist – she was recently
awarded by the Guild of Motoring Writers – Vaishali
specialises in evocative, passionate pen-portraits. The Berlinbased
writer met US astronaut Charlie Duke for this issue.
LUKE PONSFORD
This London-based lifestyle and motoring writer is mad about
cars, watches and classic design. So it was Christmas come
early as he first drove a Range Rover Velar to a modernist
house, and then interviewed a petrolhead watch customiser.
STEFEN CHOW
The acclaimed Malaysian-born, Beijing-based photographer’s
work ranges from commercial shoots for global brands to
personal gallery ‘projects with social conscience’. Here, Stefen
brings our travel story on the Chinese city of Shenzhen to life.
Onelife magazine is published by Spark44 Ltd, The White Collar Factory, 1 Old Street Yard, London EC1Y 8AF, UK on behalf of Land Rover, Abbey Road, Whitley, Coventry CV3 4LF. Copyright
Spark44 Ltd. 2019. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited without the written permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed are those of the author and not Land Rover.
While every care is taken compiling the contents of Onelife magazine, specifications, features and equipment shown in this magazine are subject to change and may vary by country. All necessary
permissions were obtained for film and photography in restricted access areas, and information was correct at time of going to print. For additional vehicle information, contact your authorised
Land Rover retailer. Please drive responsibly on- and off-road. This magazine does not accept unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations, and cannot accept any responsibility for them.
7

PATHFINDER
-
E X P L O R E Y O U R W O R L D
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8

PHOTO: BLUE LAGOON ICELAND
The Blue Lagoon has been an Icelandic icon
for decades – and in the Instagram age, its
gently steaming pools of milky blue water,
heated by the natural, geothermic energy
that powers much of this beautifully rugged
island, remain a surefire winner. But the Blue
Lagoon is not just a pretty sight; the mineralrich
water and mud is said to impart health
benefits too. Now, the original facilities,
including a spa, restaurant and Silica hotel
complex, have been expanded with a new
hotel: The Retreat at Blue Lagoon Iceland.
The luxurious new digs
GETAWAY
offer a tastefully minimalist
BEAT THE BLUES experience. The structure
nestles into the surrounding
volcanic landscape, incorporating natural
features like flowing water and bare lava
rock for visual harmony, textural richness
and low environmental impact. The 62 suites
are tranquil spaces with floor-to-ceiling
windows, not least the 60m 2 Lagoon Suite
(priced from £1,950 per night) with its vast
terrace and private lagoon access. End
your day at the hotel’s gourmet restaurant,
Moss, where famously fresh, local, seasonal
ingredients make fine dining a celebration
of purity. www.bluelagoon.com
9

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PHOTO: IAN BEATTIE/AUSCAPE/CONTRIBUTOR/GETTY IMAGES
10

ARTSCAPE Fancy a camping holiday
LAKE BALLARD with 50 strangers? Oh,
and they‘re made of steel.
In the salt pans of Lake Ballard, 50km
outside the remote former gold-rush
town of Menzies – itself a dot amidst
the vast swathes of unspoilt Western
Australia – acclaimed sculptor Antony
Gormley erected 51 surreal steel
statues, based on digital scans of local
residents. The eerie installation makes
for an unforgettable stop on your
Outback road trip. Set aside several
serene hours to walk between the
statues, as vehicles are not allowed on
the salt lake. With stunning, expansive
views of both land and sky, camping (in
designated areas) is hugely rewarding,
though not for the faint of heart: you‘ll
need to bring your own water and
firewood. lakeballard.com
11

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XXXXXXX LEFT
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GLOBETROTTER’S
DIARY
SALT
ALL YEAR
This nomadic arts festival began
in a remote part of Nordland,
and is now resident in the heart
of Oslo until next year. It features
traditional wooden constructions,
based on Norwegian fishermen’s
fishracks, that serve as giant
saunas and exhibition and
music spaces. salted.no
SARDINE RUN
MAY-JULY
Billions of sardines spawn off
South Africa and migrate up
the continent‘s east coast in
miles-long shoals, harried by sea
predators. Numerous operators
run Sardine Run tours, giving
divers and snorkelers a front-row
seat to one of the world’s most
spectacular marine events.
YUKON 1000
JUNE
Registrations open for the world’s
longest canoe race – along a
thousand-mile stretch of the
remote Yukon River in Canada’s
far north and into Alaska,
finishing in the Arctic Circle.
With entrants from around the
world, it is seen as the ultimate
canoeing fest. yukon1000.org
NAADAM
JULY
Short for ‘eriin gurvan naadam’,
or ‘the three games of men’, this
is a festival of Mongolia’s three
national sports: wrestling, horse
racing and archery. The festival
takes place in every town and
village in the country, but
the official one is in the capital,
Ulaanbaatar. naadamfestival.com
PHOTOGRAPHY: ENDRE LOHNE, DOUG PERRINE/GETTY IMAGES,
JAY DICKMAN/CONTRIBUTOR/GETTY IMAGES, JACK TAYLOR/GETTY
IMAGES, JODHPUR RIFF/OIJO, ENTE FIERA DEL TARTUFO – FOTO
DAVIDE CARLETTI, DOGWALK(2015)/MAELLA JAARSMA
14

GUČ A TRUMPET
FESTIVAL
AUGUST
Brass is the backbone of the
Balkans‘ frenetic Gypsy-inspired
music – and never more so than
during this cacophonic weekend
in the tiny Serbian town of Guča,
when a multitude of bands, and
specifically trumpeters, battle
for the crown. gucafestival.rs
JODHPUR RIFF
OCTOBER
The Rajasthan International Folk
Festival takes place within the
walls of the immense Mehrangarh
Fort in the fabled Indian city of
Jodhpur. It brings itinerant folk
musicians together with classical
ensembles and international acts.
Sir Mick Jagger is a big fan,
and patron. jodhpurriff.org
FIERA DEL TARTUFO
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER
The world’s top chefs descend on
the small Italian town of Alba to
mark the start of white truffle
season. The festival‘s centrepiece
is an invite-only truffle auction,
but you can make your own
purchases at the weekly truffle
markets, and sample lots of
truffley treats. fieradeltartufo.org
SETOUCHI TRIENNALE
UNTIL NOVEMBER
Held across several beautiful
islands in the sparsely inhabited
Seto Inland Sea, this Japanese
festival sets contemporary art
installations amidst buildings
and landscapes. It runs in three
sessions – Spring Encounters,
Summer Gatherings and Fall
Expansions. setouchi-artfest.jp
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SURVIVE THIS
WILD ANIMAL
ENCOUNTERS
Alan McSmith, a safari guide
at South Africa’s Kruger
National Park, stars in a
now-viral social media video,
where he stands his ground against a charging bull
elephant. We speak to him to understand what it took.
“You cannot figure out the intelligence and complexity
of an elephant at a cursory glance. You have to spend time
with them, track them on foot. This particular encounter
was quite unique. But it’s not about standing up to an
elephant in some Rambo style of guiding. I would be
hesitant about using the video in any educational sense.
“It was a walk without rifles, which is fairly unusual. As
the encounter occurred and the elephant got closer, there
was no script. There was no storyboard. You can look at it
through the science of body language: the eyes, the trunk,
the ears and the tail, the noise he’s making, how he’s
moving. Then you can possibly deduce what the animal is
going to do, judging on what the textbooks say. However,
I’ve never seen an elephant reading a book.
“It’s human instinct to want to take control of the
situation, especially if you’re a guide leading clients. But
with wild animals, that can be the wrong thing to do,
because your idea and sense of timing often doesn’t
agree with that of the wild animal. So if you can let those
moments go right to the boundary, and possibly even
across to the other side, then you’ve got more chance of
diffusing the situation.
“You stand your ground. You let the elephant decide
what to do, as opposed to you suggesting. In this
encounter, I had no outcome envisaged. What the
elephant did, I accepted. He moved sideways, I moved
sideways. He moved forward, I moved back. If you look at
the video carefully, it’s almost a choreographed dance.
“This intuitive understanding between an elephant
and a man diffused the situation. There was absolutely no
panic. Even the people who were behind me couldn’t
believe how calm they were. This encounter crossed the
line between what is logical and what is intuitive.
Sometimes you have to break down the barriers – that’s
invariably where you find the meaningful encounters.”
Watch the video at alanmcsmith.weebly.com
Left: How would you
react to six tonnes
of elephant storming
towards you?
IMAGERY: YOUTUBE “ALAN MCSMITH ELEPHANT ENCOUNTER1“, SHUTTERSTOCK/KENTOH, SHUTTERSTOCK/FRIMUFILMS
Do not approach elephants on foot or in a vehicle. Always travel with an experienced guide.
16

When pretty much everywhere has been
visited, what’s next? Enter new scientific
frontiers to shake things up. DNA self-testing
kits have made family trees cool, spawning
a trend for booking a trip in search of your
roots. New World tourism in search of Old
World roots isn’t new of course, but the
emergence of easy-to-use DNA self-testing
kits – just a saliva sample will do – has made
it possible for anyone to find out
where their ancestry lies, and go in
search of the old country. According
to the MIT Technology Review, some
12 million people had done such
tests by the start of 2018. The test
measures your results against
databases of samples from current
TRENDSPOTTER
DNA TOURISM
global populations, looking for
common genetic variations to
match your DNA to, and gives you
a probability. It’s a percentages
game, not a black and white answer. Some
40 companies currently offer this service,
and will produce a detailed report of your
geographical DNA strands, plus maternal
and paternal haplogroups, which are your
ancestral paths to specific common ancestors.
There may be no such thing as a final truth in
science, but the thrill of self-discovery mixed
with wanderlust is an irresistible cocktail.
P
TRAVEL SECRET
GRAPE EXPECTATIONS
Picture this: 112,000 hectares of vineyards planted
with 30 grape varietals, a 5,000-year winemaking
tradition, the world’s largest wine cellar, wines that
have been enjoyed by kings, queens and presidents. Where in the world? The rolling
countryside of Codru, Ştefan-Vodă and Valul lui Traian in Moldova: a terroir suited to the
production of high quality reds, sparkling wines and brandies. And it has pedigree – the
Negru de Purcari won a gold medal at the 1878 Paris Expo and became a favourite of the
Russian Tsars. Must-see pitstop: The Cricova winery with that world-beating cellar. “Their
labyrinth of underground chalk cellars is larger than all of the cellars of Champagne,” reveals
US oenologist and Master of Wine, Christy Canterbury. “They have stop lights and street signs
down there.” Epically Soviet scale of industrial wine production aside, it’s the sheer quality
of Moldovan wines that impresses outsiders; the cellars at Cricova and elsewhere age local
wines for numerous international dignitaries and celebrities. Pick of the lot? The local tradition
of natural in-bottle fermentation (the Champagne method) means all Moldovan sparkling is
aged for at least nine months and up to five years. Time to raise a glass. wineofmoldova.com
17

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“I chose photography because I want to capture the best moments of my life,” says Ivander
Fauzy Armando, or simply ‘Vander’ as he is known to friends and family. The 26-year-old’s
Instagram account @familywithnature shows just what these moments look like. Vander’s
distinct visual aesthetic is instantly recognisable throughout the social media feed, with a
focus on nature and the great outdoors, brought to life with warm colours, stunning reflections
and awe-inspiring drone shots, mostly portraying his native Indonesia.
SOCIAL LENS
The other recurring theme is family: his wife and daughters are regularly
@FAMILYWITHNATURE featured, adding a deeply personal touch to his posts. “I love travelling
with my family and my camera,” Vander explains. “I document the
unforgettable moments we experience together, and I like sharing them with the world.”
Vander’s journey to Instagram fame began seven years ago, while still working his day job as
a chef. Taking pictures on hiking trips with his daughters, he saw the potential to combine
his love for photography with quality time with his family, and began working seriously on his
Instagram account. Now, more than 12,000 followers get to share his twin passions too.
PHOTOGRAPHY: VANDER ARMANDO
18

GE T RE ADY
FOR ADVENTURE
shop.landrover.com
Visit your nearest retailer or explore the range at shop.landrover.com

NEW MODELS
W A T C H
T H I S
S P A C E
The excitement is building as one
of the world’s most eagerly awaited
car launches draws near. Get ready
for the new Land Rover Defender...
The Defender is the direct descendant of one of
the world’s best-loved cars, the Series Land Rover –
the pioneering all-terrain passenger vehicle. That
lineage is evident both in its iconic shape and in a
steely toughness that sees decades-old examples
still on the road (and for that matter, off-road too).
From farmland to outback, and urban jungle to safari
park, the Defender is a global motoring icon.
Which is why the forthcoming launch of the new
Land Rover Defender later this year is a major event –
not only for Land Rover, but millions of enthusiasts
worldwide. Teams at Land Rover are working at full
tilt to ensure that the new Defender is as much of a
game-changer as the original. While evolved for today’s
world, it will never compromise on capability, as you
can see from this scene captured on a test cycle in the
US. In fact, camouflaged prototypes are being tested
to the extreme all over the world, be it in the deepfreeze
of Arjeplog, the rocky heat of Utah, or on the
specially designed test circuits of Eastnor in the UK.
It will certainly be the go-anywhere vehicle for a
new generation, with purposeful and durable design
and exceptional all-terrain capability. But equally, it
will have the all-round composure to take on the rest
of life’s challenges, in that typically Defender way:
with calm, assured strength.
With the launch of the new Defender just months
away, get set for full details in a future issue of Onelife.
PHOTOGRAPH: NICK DIMBLEBY
20

21

NEW MODELS
S M O O T H
Vehicle shown in Nolita Grey colour exclusive to First Edition
22

O P E R A T O R
Already an urban icon, the original luxury city SUV has evolved
to reinforce its position as a design tour de force, whilst
setting a new benchmark for sustainability and capability
23

NEW MODELS
It is now such a ubiquitous sight in cities from
London to Shanghai, it is almost easy to forget what a
ground-breaking car the Range Rover Evoque really is.
Launched in 2011 with lines that stayed faithful to
the radical LRX concept, the original Range Rover
Evoque was an instant smash hit. It soon became clear
it was a real game-changer, not only for Land Rover, but
for the entire industry. The Evoque’s perfect balance of
head-turning looks, luxury and compact size pioneered
a new segment of desirable urban SUVs and attracted
a new generation of buyers. Its timeless design – a rare
feat in the automotive world, where models can often
seem dated even in just a couple of years – helped
make it one of the decade’s great motoring successes,
with nearly 800,000 units sold. It also transformed
Land Rover, putting design firmly at the heart of all new
models since, while maintaining the brand's legendary
capability. All in all, you’d agree, a pretty tough act
to follow: which is why the new Range Rover Evoque
takes the game to a whole new level.
The exterior design builds on the original’s
instantly-recognisable form, with a sophisticated
evolution of the distinctive silhouette typified by the
fast roofline and rising waistline. Surfaces have been
honed to perfection, with flush door handles, super-slim
Matrix LED front and rear lamps*, and sweeping
directional indicators*. The luxurious, uncluttered
interior is crafted with sumptuous, sustainable material
options, such as Kvadrat wool blend and Dinamica
suedecloth. The sense of serene wellbeing is enhanced
by the spaciousness: despite the new Evoque’s
compact 4.37m footprint, it offers 80% more kneeroom
for rear passengers and 10% more luggage space.
The interior is also smartly packed with a
contemporary suite of connectivity and interface
technology**. Apple CarPlay* connects you to your
smartphone, 4G Wi-Fi* hotspot to the internet, and
InControl Remote to the vehicle, while the twin
touchscreen Touch Pro Duo system* runs fast, intuitive
software. Smart Settings* uses artificial intelligence
algorithms to learn your preferences and readies the
cabin for your journey. A full suite of driver assistance
systems and active safety technology is available.
The overhaul goes all the way through to new
architecture technology delivering a smoother, quieter
and more refined drive. The range of Ingenium petrol
and diesel engines is bolstered by a 48-volt mild-hybrid
option, with an enhanced stop-start system (where the
engine switches off and runs on battery power below
10mph) offering improved fuel economy † . An efficient
three-cylinder Ingenium petrol engine, as well as a full
plug-in hybrid (PHEV), will be available later in 2019.
Handling has been tuned for further agility and
responsiveness ideally suited to tight city streets – as
you’ll find out when you read motoring journalist Ken
Gibson’s first-hand account of driving the new Evoque
in Athens, on the following pages.
“THIS CHARACTERFUL VEHICLE
COMBINES REFINEMENT AND FUN
TO CREATE THAT ALL-IMPORTANT
EMOTIONAL CONNECTION”
GERRY MCGOVERN, CHIEF DESIGN OFFICER
VISION IMPOSSIBLE? NOT HERE
An array of clever technology enhances visibility in the new Range Rover
Evoque. The world-first ClearSight Ground View *†† effectively makes the
bonnet ‘invisible’ by projecting camera imagery onto the upper touchscreen
to give you a 180° view under the front of the vehicle. This is useful when
negotiating difficult parking spaces, navigating high kerbs or tackling rough
terrain. Land Rover's new ClearSight interior rear-view mirror helps to
overcome instances of obscured rear vision. Flick a switch and the mirror
shows you what's behind the car, via a camera atop the car – all in crisp high
definition, doubling the usual 25° vision, and with superior low-light visibility.
*Optional features. ** In-car features should be used only when safe to do so. Drivers must be in full control of the vehicle at all times. †† Requires 360 Surround Camera. † WLTP Fuel Consumption Combined mpg (l/100km): TEL: 6.3 (44.9)
TEH: 9.9 (28.5). CO2 Emissions Combined (g/km): TEL:165 TEH:224. Figures provided are WLTP. WLTP is the new official EU test used to calculate standardised fuel consumption and CO2 figures for passenger cars. It measures fuel, energy
consumption, range and emissions. This is designed to provide figures closer to real-world driving behaviour. It tests vehicles with optional equipment and with a more demanding test procedure and driving profile. TEL (Test Energy Low) and TEH
(Test Energy High) figures are shown as a range under WLTP testing measures. TEL refers to the lowest/most economical figures (with the lightest set of options). TEH refers to the highest/least economical figures (with the heaviest set of options).
24

Every element of the
new Range Rover
Evoque, from flush
door handles to slimline
headlamps, contributes
to its refined design,
while retaining the
distinct silhouette
25

GREEK
GODDESS
BLENDING LEGACY AND
MODERNITY WITH VERVE,
THE NEW RANGE ROVER
EVOQUE IS MADE FOR THE
URBAN JUNGLE. WE TEST
ITS STREET CRED IN THE
TIMELESS CITY OF ATHENS
STORY K E N G I B S O N
PHOTOGRAPHY M I C H A E L S C H N A B E L
26

27

Few cities blend rich heritage with modernity quite
like Athens. The birthplace of European culture and
home of the Acropolis and Parthenon may be steeped
in the splendour of the past, but it’s also very much
a city bursting with contemporary style and energy.
Which makes it the perfect location to test the new
Range Rover Evoque, a modern motoring icon that
changed the world of SUVs and transformed Land
Rover into a global design leader.
If the Acropolis shaped the architecture and culture
of the world, the Series 1 Land Rover gave motoring
a vehicle that was to become an institution. But times
move on, as illustrated by the
plethora of striking modern
buildings that now happily
“IF THE EXTERIOR
share Athens’ skyline
alongside the architectural IS AN EVOLUTION,
icons of the past.
With the original Evoque, STEP INSIDE
Land Rover created that
AND YOU'LL SEE
priceless commodity of
‘timeless’ design, a vehicle A REVOLUTION
that looked so right from
IN MATERIALS,
launch that only smart
evolution has been needed. TECHNOLOGY
The new car is instantly
recognisable.
AND LUXURY.
My first sight of the new
THE NEW EVOQUE
Range Rover Evoque told me
immediately that the designers IS EVERY INCH A
have hit the sweet spot again,
with a vehicle that instantly RANGE ROVER”
stands out from the crowd.
The beautiful Seoul Pearl
Silver is one of an array of exterior colours that is sure
to please any image-conscious owner. The exterior
changes are subtle, but eye-catching details – such
as ultra slim LED headlights and grille, flush door
handles and elegant wrap-around rear lights – give
it a more sophisticated and mature look.
If the exterior is an evolution, step inside and you'll
see a revolution in materials, technology and luxury.
The new Evoque is every inch a Range Rover,
comparable with its range-topping big brothers.
Anything you touch has a quality feel, from the rich soft
leather * that covers everything from the seats to the
dashboard and doors, to the Kvadrat option which
offers a radical premium eco-friendly cloth alternative to
leather trim.
Instant connectivity and the latest technology are an
essential part of any modern car, and the Evoque now
boasts a double screen infotainment system * that fits
beautifully into the dashboard and centre console, to
give the cabin a clean, uncluttered and logical appeal.
Driver and passengers are linked up ** to Android Auto
and Apple CarPlay * , plus six USB ports and a 4G Wi-Fi *
Hotspot. I enjoyed the instant access to my own music
playlist (the local radio was not quite to my taste).
As I set off into Athens’ manic
early morning traffic, the first
thing I noticed was how quiet
things were in the Evoque cabin –
it is an oasis of luxurious calm.
The lack of noise highlights the
significant improvements made by
Land Rover to soundproofing and
refinement.
I drove the 2-litre
turbocharged petrol and diesel
versions and they both deliver
smooth, lively performance. The
nine-speed automatic gearbox
is slick, with a sportier traditional
gear lever replacing the rotary
shift of the original.
But undoubtedly the big step
forward is that, in a first for Land
Rover, both petrol and diesel
engines get a mild 48V hybrid
system which basically captures
energy that would normally be lost in deceleration and
stores it in a small battery. The bonus for owners is that
when you pull away, this energy is redeployed to assist
the engine, which in turn reduces fuel consumption and
CO 2 emissions. A full plug-in hybrid, powered by a
three-cylinder petrol engine, will follow later this year.
You will appreciate the increased space in the back
seats where adults can now sit comfortably, while boot
space increases to 591 litres, enough for two big
suitcases. But the clever bit is that the Evoque is the
same compact size, just with a longer wheelbase that
delivers the extra space, and that means you can slip
* Optional features. ** In-car features should be used only when safe to do so. Drivers must be in full control of the vehicle at all times.
28

From narrow alleyways to sweeping thoroughfares, the new
Range Rover Evoque is right at home in the city, thanks to
its compact footprint, plush cabin and lively performance
29

30

† Requires 360 Surround Camera. * Optional features.
through rush hour city traffic with ease and park in tight
places. That is a major asset in any city, and certainly
so in Athens where driving is a fascinating challenge,
manoeuvring through a sea of traffic where everyone
seems to be in a hurry. Fortunately, the slow progress
allows you to appreciate the beauty of the city.
I used the updated and much slicker Navigation
Pro * system to pilot my way to the must-visit locations
of the sacred Acropolis and Parthenon; it even took me
directly to a rare car parking space in the shadow of the
great ruins. The sheer magnitude
of the Acropolis was breathtaking
– even sharing it with busloads
of tourists did not diminish
the uniqueness of the
experience. After soaking up the
sights I enjoyed a lunchtime
break, with a reviving traditional
Greek moussaka at a restaurant
packed with tourists and locals
having animated discussions.
Back on the road, as I inched
the Evoque through chaotic
narrow side streets it became
clear that Land Rover has been
equally successful in improving
both the handling and the ride
comfort of the car. It really is easy
and relaxing to drive. I headed
up busy Syngrou Avenue, and
through the thriving downtown
district of Metaxourgio, where
shoppers indulge in the latest fashions and gourmet
dining, with the added attraction of street art, including
the distinctive work of renowned local artist Sonke.
As I drove out of the city’s gridlocked traffic onto
the dual carriageways, I began to fully appreciate the
depth of improvements made to the new Evoque,
especially how quiet the diesel engine was. The
Evoque may be a car that will spend most of its time
in the urban jungle, but it is just as happy out in the
country where it cruises serenely.
“ON THE DUAL
CARRIAGEWAYS,
I BEGAN TO FULLY
APPRECIATE
THE DEPTH OF
IMPROVEMENTS
MADE TO THE
NEW EVOQUE,
ESPECIALLY HOW
QUIET THE DIESEL
ENGINE WAS”
And for owners with a sense of adventure, rest
assured it is an authentic Land Rover, with off-road
abilities none of its rivals can match. Scaling rough rockstrewn
tracks in the spectacular Katafygio Mountains,
I was reminded of the astonishing ability of the Evoque’s
Terrain Response 2 * system to tackle any terrain.
This also gave me the chance to test two groundbreaking
pieces of technology. ClearSight Ground
View *† features cameras which show you a 180° image
of what’s beneath the front of the car. It’s like having a
see-through bonnet, which is
perfect for off-roading or just
negotiating high kerbs.
The other is a ClearSight
interior rear-view mirror * . The
previous-generation Evoque
had a narrow rear window and
any luggage in the back meant
your view behind was close to
nil. Here, the mirror transforms
into a high-definition video
screen that uses a camera
to give you a clear rear view.
Having enjoyed the driving
experience from behind
the wheel, when I had the
opportunity to be chauffeurdriven,
I decided to sample
life in the rear seat. It’s a
tranquil place to be, with
much-improved head- and
knee-room, and as we
progressed down the Marco Polo Highway, I felt
the great explorer would have appreciated the new
Range Rover Evoque as a fine way to travel.
Two days behind the wheel left me in no doubt
that if the original Evoque was a game-changer, the
new version raises the bar once again. It is more
luxurious, refined, technologically advanced, drives
better and looks even cooler. Range Rover’s baby has
matured into a superb re-imagining of the original,
and is well on its way to becoming a new icon.
31

M O D E L
C I T I Z E N
Activist and fashion model Adwoa Aboah, the
face of the new Range Rover Evoque launch
campaign, tells Onelife why she lives for the city
“There is a strength to every Londoner
I’ve met; an amazing sense of humour and
the ability to make every occasion a party,“
says Adwoa Aboah. The 26-year-old should
know – she has much to celebrate. One of
the new class of supermodels, she is known
for her activism and unique look as much as
her global fashion campaigns (Dior, Calvin
Klein and Marc Jacobs, to name a few).
And that’s not to mention her showstopping
presence on the catwalk for,
most notably, Fendi and Chanel. With a
slew of magazine covers including Vogue’s
relaunch issue to her name, she was
awarded the British Fashion Council’s
coveted Model of the Year award in 2017.
She’s come a long way from “spending
my summers playing out with the kids
where I lived [in west London], pretty
much always on rollerblades“.
With her shaven head, bejewelled front
tooth and unapologetic attitude, Aboah –
who is half-Ghanaian and whose first name
is often used for women born on a Monday
in Western Africa – cuts a distinct presence
in the fashion world.
It’s no surprise then, that when she
travels the world modelling, or working
with young women as part of Gurl’s Talk,
of which she is a co-founder, that she seeks
out unique places in the cities she visits.
“If I could create my own fantasy city,“
she says, “I’d have London’s Portobello
Market and Golborne Road with Mexico
City’s restaurants, Tokyo’s vintage shops and
karaoke bars, and LA’s wide roads.“
Aboah went to school in Somerset in
the UK, and recalls, “I was lucky to have
experienced both city and country life, but
I was always counting down the days till I
could get back to London! Now, because
I love being on the go and experiencing
new places and people, I’ll always welcome
a little jaunt out of the city.“ Despite her
bucolic schooling and the fact she now
splits her time between the UK and US, she
says, “London is my home, and a huge part
of my identity. I will forever be a Londoner.
I love its energy – it’s so vibrant, there is
constantly something going on.“
Fashion runs in Aboah’s blood. Her
mother Camilla Lowther is the founder
of creative management firm CLM, and
she signed with an agency when she was
16. Her sister Kesewa is also a model,
starring in Alexander McQueen’s latest ads.
Close as she is to her sister, Aboah says
she savours moments alone: “I think it’s
important to feel comfortable in your own
company. I watch a lot of Netflix, I read and
I love to walk around London and peoplewatch.
There are so many characters here.“
“Driving around cities is a great way
to get to know them,“ says Aboah. Her
passion for driving lends a characteristic
authenticity to her decision to star in the
launch campaign for the new Range Rover
Evoque. “It’s such an amazing car to drive,
and I love its commitment to sustainability,“
she says, referring to its options of natural
materials and hybrid-electric power.
Given that she leads such a nomadic
life, how does she feel ‘rooted’ in the
world? “Having my friends or family with
me. I’m always home when I am with them.“
And there’s no doubt the spirit of
London remains with Aboah, wherever
she goes: “One of the most special things
about London is its huge diversity. With
that you learn compassion and
understanding for others.“
With such vital values guiding her as
she navigates the urban jungle and life,
Adwoa’s star will surely continue to rise.
STORY: LOTTE JEFFS PHOTO: OLIVIA MALONE/TRUNK ARCHIVE
32

33

DESIGN
34

I F E
D E S I G N E D
F O R
We take a Range Rover Velar to visit a timeless
example of mid-century modern design: one of just
a handful of European residences built by famed
Californian modernist architect Richard Neutra
STORY L U K E P O N S F O R D
PHOTOGRAPHY G R E G W H I T E

DESIGN
“ONE OF THE CENTRAL
TENETS OF NEUTRA DESIGN
IS THE BLURRING OF THE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
INDOORS AND OUTDOORS”
Two-thirds of Wuppertal, in Germany’s western state
of North Rhine-Westphalia, is made up of parks and
woodland, making it the country’s greenest city. It’s a
pleasant yet somewhat unremarkable part of the world,
and probably not the first place you’d go looking for a
prime example of mid-century modern architecture –
the kind of silvery glass-and-steel edifice you’d normally
find perched atop a Los Angeles canyon, or ensconced
between the monolithic boulders and spiky cacti of
some Californian desert moonscape.
But take a short drive from central Wuppertal
(tempting though it is to take a longer route in our
luxurious Range Rover Velar), turn off onto a winding
forest road and this unassuming corner of western
Germany will spring a surprise. Here, concealed behind
a dense palisade of trees and hedgerows, lies one of
just eight residential villas built in Europe by fabled
modernist architect Richard Neutra.
A central figure in modern architecture, Austrianborn
Neutra relocated to Los Angeles in the early
1920s, attracted by the city’s open spaces, abundant
sunshine and sense of freedom. He worked briefly for
visionary architect Frank Lloyd Wright before starting
his own practice in 1929. It was during this period that
Neutra designed and built the Lovell Health House in
LA, still regarded as one of the most important houses
of the twentieth century. Based on early skyscraper
technology, and the first American residence to be
made from steel, the Lovell House made big waves
in the architectural community. It also made Neutra
an international name.
Over the next 40 years Neutra, often working in
conjunction with his son Dion, designed and built more
than 300 houses and buildings, the vast majority of
them on the West Coast of the US. Designed with
much care lavished on light and views, Neutra paid
considerable attention to accommodating the needs of
his clients. What did they do? How did they socialise?
What did they want to see and hear?
Indeed, one of the central tenets of Neutra design
was that the relationship between indoors and outdoors
should be blurred – a terrace separated from the indoor
space by a sliding glass wall, an attempt to bring the
outdoor environment inside, and vice versa. “I’d say
‘contact with nature’ characterises a Neutra design as
much as anything,” smiles Dion Neutra, who at 92 years
old still runs the Neutra firm in LA. “It’s always about
re-establishing that, in any of our designs.”
Re-establishing ‘contact with nature’ may have been
something of a chillier proposition in Europe, but
nevertheless, between 1960 and Richard Neutra’s death
in 1970, father and son worked together on the design
and construction of four villas in Switzerland, three in
Germany and one in France.
“People just started asking for us to design them
houses,” says Dion. “I’m not sure what sparked that.
All these (European) creations were the result of an
initiative launched by these owners, who had heard
of us, and liked what they saw.”
One such couple were the Kempers, the owners
of a successful corset manufacturing business in
Wuppertal, who quite fancied a taste of the new
Right: Owners Manfred
and Sarah Hering have
furnished the Kemper
House to fit in with their
singular design aesthetic
36

ARCTIC ADVENTURE
37

38

DESIGN
Left: A series of waterfilled
reflection pools
highlight the Kemper
House’s relationship with
its woodland habitat
American ‘West Coast’ style of living. In 1963 they
contacted the Neutras, who set about finding a
suitable plot in the area. Once the 40,000 m 2 site was
selected, construction began in 1965 and lasted until
August 1968. The completed 380 m 2 house boasted
six bedrooms, fully glazed walls and several large
fireplaces as well as unique features such as an
au pair room and a ‘gentlemen’s room’, which now
serves as an office for current owner Manfred Hering.
Having bought the house in 2016, Hering is
currently in the process of painstakingly restoring it
back to its original specification. “When I bought the
place, it looked a bit like a boutique hotel,” says the
50-year-old classic car restoration expert and midcentury-modern
über-fan. “Everything was grey and
beige. The previous owners had painted over a lot of
the wood. We’ve looked at every material, bought
books, spoken to the previous owners, all with a view
to getting the entire house period correct – so original
that it doesn’t even look restored.”
The Kemper House looks brilliantly inserted into
its woody hilltop location. The living area – a glassy
adjunct to the central two-storey structure – is framed
by the original floor-to-ceiling windows, which invite
light into this surprisingly ‘liveable’ main room, while
its ceiling treatment carries out consistently from the
inside to the outside of the house, through the glass
line. Water-filled reflection pools on the flat roofs and
behind the terrace mirror the surrounding trees and
woodland. It all highlights the house’s relationship with
its environment, its ‘contact with nature’.
Inside, original furniture and fittings – an Arne
Jacobsen Egg chair, Knoll sofa and Panton shell lamps –
bring the living experience back to the mid-1970s,
Hering’s favoured era for both interior design and
air-cooled German sportscars. The Kemper House
is a real home, rather than a sparse monument to
modernism. It’s what Neutra intended the space to be.
He believed in building houses for the human being,
not the architecture critic. It’s inviting, comfortable,
and it’s hard not to feel at home here.
Parked outside on the terrace, the Range Rover
Velar looks right at home too. Decades may separate
their respective designs, but both the Kemper House
and the Velar share a reductionist design philosophy,
an elegant simplicity. Like the house, there’s nothing
extraneous about the Velar’s design. Nothing that
doesn’t need to be there. Taking a seat in the clean,
uncluttered cockpit of this ‘avant-garde’ Range Rover
feels like a visit to the future. The Kempers must have
felt the same when they ventured inside their new
house in the summer of 1968. The space, the light,
the general understatement of the architecture. It
was all new back then. And it will be again.
“There’s a bit more work to do, but even now, you
can feel the house has its original sense. It has its soul
back,” says Manfred. “This is my forever house,” he
laughs. “I will definitely die here.” And looking around
this glamorous, slightly incongruous slice of sunny
Southern California nestling in the green hills of
western Germany, you can understand why.
39

VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY
IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES/NICK BRUNDLE PHOTOGRAPHY
40

R E T U R N T O T H E
N
I
L
E
Hollywood actor Joseph Fiennes and legendary explorer Sir Ranulph
Fiennes teamed up for a Land Rover Discovery-powered journey across
Egypt. Onelife caught up with the cousins to hear about incredible
sights, dangerous creatures and the challenges of sand dune driving
STORY
G E O F F P O U L T O N
41

VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY
To most people, crawling through narrow tunnels,
speeding across vast sand dunes and encountering
snakes and scorpions – all while filming a TV show –
may seem an unconventional way to get to know your
cousin. But then, not everyone’s cousin is famed
explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes.
For Joseph Fiennes, Hollywood actor and star of
the current hit TV show The Handmaid’s Tale, exploring
Egypt with Sir Ranulph (‘Ran’) had seemed like an
excellent idea – the chance for him to fulfil a lifelong
ambition and find out more about his illustrious cousin,
whom he barely knew. “But then, suddenly, you’re
there and the idea has morphed into reality and you
feel very ill-prepared,” he says. “I tried not to show
it, but when we arrived, I was a little apprehensive.”
There to capture his apprehension was a National
Geographic crew, filming for a new three-part series
which aired in spring 2019. The show follows the
Fiennes as they retrace parts of Ran’s 1969 expedition
along the Nile river, from Alexandria to Lake Victoria.
When Onelife caught up with the two Fiennes,
they took pleasure in sharing their experiences of
filming in Egypt, as well as their favourite anecdotes.
The two make for an engaging and often amusing
double-act: Ran, the self-deprecating, unflappable
adventurer; Joe, the eloquent, pun-loving actor.
Often dubbed the world‘s greatest living explorer,
Ran has set records exploring both Poles, climbed
Everest, run marathons on seven continents and cut
off his own frostbitten finger tips. “By contrast, I think
the closest I had come to feeling fear was standing
up on stage in front of a few hundred people,”
48-year-old Joe admits. “I was just hoping Ran
wouldn’t be appalled by his younger cousin.”
“And I thought it would have been the other
way around,” quips Ran, 74. “You wondering, ‘What
the hell is this doddering geriatric still up to?”
For Joe, the trip represented a chance to test
himself – “to see where my cut-off point is”, as well as
connecting with a “near-mythical figure in the family
and get an insight into the drive behind his incredible
feats”. For Ran, it was the opportunity to revisit
cherished memories and explore new sites.
As on so many of Ran’s trips, Land Rover played a
vital role in the latest Fiennes adventure. Joining the
party was an equally versatile adventurer, a Land Rover
Discovery. In the 30 years since the nameplate’s launch,
the Discovery has enabled not only Ran but many
renowned explorers, teams and good causes to
complete challenging global expeditions, including
the memorable journey of the millionth Discovery
from Birmingham to Beijing in 2012.
And it was in the Discovery that Joe got his first
taste of off-road driving, tackling the imposing sand
dunes of the Egyptian desert. “You know, we actually
took off at one point,” says Ran drily. “Yes, I’d like to
apologise again for that,” Joe replies. “We were
heading up a huge dune and I remember Ran saying
‘More speed!’. I was supposed to slow down at the top,
but we went careering over, and down the other side.
Gear everywhere, bones shaken. But Ran wasn’t fazed.”
Nor by the poisonous snakes, scorpions and spiders
the two encountered on a health-and-safety prep
session near Cairo. “Ran has a handle on fear. I just
wanted to prove to Ran that I could cope with anything
expedition life threw at me,” Joe says. “Yes, you did
rather well, actually,” muses Ran.
The two recall crawling through tunnels barely half
a metre high to reach recently discovered tombs near
Al Minya. “Joe is very athletic and flexible, I couldn’t
keep up with his speed,” Ran says. “If he was scared,
he didn’t show it. But gosh, what an experience. To
have the privilege of being one of the first people for
thousands of years to see that chamber full of mummies
– that alone made the whole trip well worthwhile.”
And Joe was able to indulge his artistic side, too.
As a more leisurely contrast to the Indiana Jones-style
adventures, he took every available opportunity to get
out his sketchbook or camera. “I loved wandering off
or getting lost in a souk and just sitting down for five
minutes to capture some of the beauty of Egypt.”
From the Great Pyramids to the temples of Abu
Simbel, Joe says there are sights and experiences that
will stay with him for a lifetime. But importantly, he
learnt more about his cousin, and about risk-taking,
the power of perseverance and pushing boundaries.
Ran nods, before adding: “And do you know what?
If I had a preconceived notion of what an actor would
be like in these circumstances, Joe is certainly
completely different. I put it down to family DNA.”
With the Land Rover Discovery set to power more
far-flung expeditions in the decades to come, perhaps
there’s time yet for more Fiennes family adventures.
FOLLOW THE JOURNEY Relive the Fiennes‘ expedition across
Egypt: search for ‘Return To The Nile’ on nationalgeographic.co.uk
IMAGES: COURTESY OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
42

“ RAN HAS A
HANDLE ON FEAR.
I WANTED TO
PROVE THAT
I COULD HANDLE
ANYTHING
EXPEDITION LIFE
THREW AT ME”
43

M O O N L I G H T
S O N A T A
Charlie Duke is one of just four
humans alive on the planet who has
set foot on another world. Fifty years
after the first Moon landing, Onelife
meets a remarkable man – a cosmic
explorer who heard the music of the
heavens, and still dances to its tune
STORY V A I S H A L I D I N A K A R A N
PHOTOGRAPHY D A N I E L A U F D E R M A U E R
45

Left and above: Duke
sports his mission patch
with pride. Below left:
Duke (left) with his Apollo 16
crewmates, Thomas
Mattingly and John Young.
Below: The tenth human
to walk on another world

EXPLORATION
PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES/SCIENCE & SOCIETY PICTURE LIBRARY/CONTRIBUTOR, GETTY IMAGES/ROLLS PRESS/POPPERFOTO/CONTRIBUTOR
Charlie Duke has always been an adventurer, with an
irrepressible desire to go exploring – be it when he was a boy
of 12, scoping out the big rock formations and caves on Coronado
Island, California, or out rambling through the wilderness on family
property in South Carolina earlier last year, at the age of 83. Or,
most famously, as he did in 1972, when walking on the Moon,
leaving footprints in the lunar surface that remain to this very day.
Our paths cross at a quiet cafe in Zurich, where Duke shares
a tale of adventure only three other living men can match. His eyes
brighten, and there’s a sense of awe in his voice as he recounts that
epic journey nearly five decades ago, on the Apollo 16 mission.
“The lingering memory of the experience
that I had was the wonder of it all,” he says.
“It’s never been like a dream, but you
can hardly believe that you’ve had this
experience. One of only 12 people that
have been able to step onto the Moon.”
Following mission commander John
Young out of the Orion lunar module he
piloted, Duke became the tenth and (at
36 years) the youngest person to walk on
the Moon. It was to be the most significant
walk that he ever took, and one that he
had long wished for.
He recollects a NASA geology training
programme at the Grand Canyon, where
he found himself staring up at the Moon
from his sleeping bag, wondering whether
someday he’d be up there too. Which is
why, when he finally was, he felt joyous and
triumphant all at once. The thought that ran
through his head as his foot touched the
surface was “I’m on the Moon – finally! I’m
on the Moon!”, he laughs.
As they went from location to location in the lunar rover –
driving around boulders, stopping at the edge of craters,
carefully peering into their depths, chipping away at rocks,
collecting samples to carry back for NASA to study – there was
a constant feeling of curiosity and marvel at all that they saw
around them: “‘What’s in this crater? What are we going to find
over here?’ That kind of wonder, adventure, excitement!” The
memories make his face light up.
As fascinating as the surface of the Moon was, it was the
“breathtakingly beautiful” sight of the Earth as seen from outer
space, that truly captivated him, and also led him to the epiphany
that, irrespective of our country of origin, “we’re all here on
“WE ALL HAVE
A STRONG URGE
WITHIN US, A
SPIRIT, THAT
IS INQUISITIVE.
SPACE TRAVEL
HELPS US FULFIL
OUR DESIRE
TO UNDERSTAND
THE UNIVERSE”
Spaceship Earth and we need to learn to love one another.” Duke
recollects the sight as though it were yesterday: “There were three
colours – the brown of the land, the crystal blue of the oceans,
and the white of the snow and the clouds. The jewel of Earth,
suspended in the blackness of space.” A blackness so rich and
velvety, he was convinced he could almost reach out and touch it.
Perhaps the contrast between the brightness of the sunlit Earth
and the blackness of space was a metaphor for Duke’s own life,
and his own journey; an especially dark phase followed his return
to Earth. “The thought occurred to me, ‘What are you going to
do for the rest of your life? What’s the challenge?’” Instead of a
sense of peace at having accomplished
his goals, he was filled with dissatisfaction;
the drive that took him to the Moon was
still burning within him, and he knew not
how to channel it.
The turmoil nearly cost him his family.
But Duke eventually found peace in
religion, repaired his personal life, and
then began travelling the world sharing
stories both of his journey to the Moon,
and his subsequent journey with God.
“It’s a responsibility I take seriously,
to share my enthusiasm, especially with
young people,” he says. “To challenge
them – that you never know where your
life is going to take you.”
Duke’s interest in space travel remains
keen, heightened by the new space race,
between private companies like SpaceX,
Orbital, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic.
“I can visualise something in the future,
where we’ll have big habitation modules
orbiting Earth. I’m an advocate of building
a science station with permanent habitation on the Moon. I think
we’re eventually going to get to Mars,” he says with conviction.
Given that he has experienced the wonders space has to offer,
Duke is a vocal advocate of manned space flights, and not just for
the technological growth they bring about. Instead, he believes
they tap into a fundamental human characteristic – the endless
desire for discovery. “I think we all have a strong urge within us,
a spirit, that is inquisitive. Space travel helps to fulfil that desire
to understand the Universe and the beauty of its creation.”
In this octogenarian former astronaut, it’s certainly strong
enough to make him conclude with a smile, “Every once in a while,
I think that maybe I would love to go back to the Moon.”
47

EXPLORATION
48

T H E F I N A L
F R O N T I E R
With the likes of Virgin Galactic poised to make
commercial space flight a reality, get ready to boldly go
where no ticketholder has gone before...
Ever since our earliest ancestors looked up to
the starry skies, humans have always dreamed
of exploring the great unknown above. Soon
however, looking back down on the curvature
of Earth will no longer be the sole preserve of
national agencies’ astronauts. A new era of
commercial space travel is dawning. The day
is not far off when all those who have looked
upwards longingly will have the opportunity to
experience the wonder of space for themselves.
Virgin Galactic is spearheading developments
on this front. On 13th December last year, their
project took a giant leap forward as mothership
VMS Eve and spaceship VSS Unity took off from
Mojave, California. Once released from the
mothership, Unity’s pilots ignited its rocket motor
for a 60-second burn, which propelled the craft
to nearly three times the speed of sound and,
for the first time, out of Earth’s atmosphere. This
was a major milestone: the very first time that a
crewed vehicle built for commercial passenger
service has reached space, the pilots earning
Commercial Astronaut Wings in recognition of
their achievements.
Sending crewed rocket-propelled vehicles into
space is about much more than simply proving it
can be done. According to Sir Richard Branson,
the British entrepreneur and philanthropist behind
Virgin Galactic, the democratisation of space travel
will “open space to everybody – and change the
world for good”. Virgin Galactic’s mission is to
alter the very way we see our world. “Space is not
only important for the future of transportation,”
said George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic,
hinting at the immense impact commercial
spaceflight will have on global mobility. “It’s
important for the future of imagination.”
As the exclusive automotive partner of Virgin
Galactic since 2014, Land Rover plays its own role
in this mission, providing vehicles to support
operations at Virgin Galactic’s build and test
facilities in Mojave, and at their future home for
flight operations, Spaceport America in New
Mexico. Once regular commercial service begins,
the vehicles will also play an integral role in the
astronaut experience, transporting trainee
astronauts between facilities for the three days
of preparation before their spaceflights. On flight
days, the Land Rovers will also shuttle the crew
to the spaceship, and post-flight, bring back the
fully fledged astronauts to Spaceport America for
celebrations and the award of astronaut wings.
The partnership goes beyond ground support;
Virgin Galactic and Land Rover work together
on joint youth-focussed STEM education programs
around the world. They also run events for the
600 people who have already signed up to fly
to space with Virgin Galactic – members of the
company’s exclusive Future Astronaut community.
These events, which take place at Land Rover
Experience centres both in the UK and abroad,
are helping spacefarers to prepare themselves
to go above and beyond.
STRATOSPHERIC LUXURY
When you’ve touched space, will mere land vehicles
seem pedestrian? Worry not; Land Rover has taken
luxury to new heights. The company’s Special Vehicle
Operations division has created the Range Rover
Astronaut Edition, inspired by the two brands’
shared commitment to iconic design and engineering
excellence. The exclusive edition is replete with
bespoke features, from a unique multilayered paint
colour inspired by the night sky to a console made from
the spacecraft Unity’s engraved wooden braking skid,
which can be later replaced with the equivalent from the
customer’s own spaceflight. The Astronaut Edition is
only available for purchase to those who have signed
up to Virgin Galactic’s Future Astronauts programme.
49

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E L E C T R I C
D R E A M S
Shenzhen is on a mission to be the blueprint
for the city of tomorrow, not least with its
advanced electric transportation infrastructure.
We explore this innovative and driven Chinese
metropolis in a Range Rover Sport PHEV
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STORY N A T H A N I E L H A N D Y
PHOTOGRAPHY S T E F E N C H O W
51

TRAVEL
A mass of cloud-brushing glass towers perched on the
edge of a vast natural harbour; the economic engine
room of its nation, with more wealth per capita than
anywhere else; and perhaps most fundamentally of all
– a city of immigrants. Sound familiar? This isn’t 20th
century New York, but 21st century Shenzhen, a city
that more than any other defines the new China.
Shenzhen turned 40 at the end of last year. In
1978, it was the first experiment in former leader Deng
Xiaoping’s drive to open up China. This sleepy fishing
town of 30,000 was chosen
because it sits just across the bay
from the financial hub of Hong
Kong. What began as a simple
factory town making most of
the ’Made in China’ items in
your house has morphed into
a metropolis of 13 million people,
home to tech giants such as
Huawei, Tencent and Alibaba.
Everything happens fast in
Shenzhen, and that includes the
future. ’I can’t remember the
last time I carried a wallet,’ is WORLD IN
something many locals told us;
everything from parking to
restaurants to the most humble
street food can be bought using
your smartphone. The skyscrapers
may still be rising at a breathtaking
pace, but this is a city where a high
quality of life is now everywhere apparent.
The streets are clean and green, the parks are
beautiful, and there are plenty of ways for Shenzheners
to enjoy their leisure time. People throng glitzy
shopping malls, the offbeat creative district of OCT-
LOFT, art galleries, museums, and restaurants serving
everything from tip-top Sichuan flavours and Beijingstyle
beef hotpot to sushi and Parisian coffee.
Perhaps most importantly, Shenzhen has mapped
out a goal for itself in sustainable urban living. Part of
SHENZHEN HAS
MAPPED OUT A
GOAL FOR ITSELF
IN SUSTAINABLE
URBAN LIVING.
IT LEADS THE
ELECTRIC VEHICLE
INFRASTRUCTURE
the International Low Carbon City initiative, it leads
the world in electric vehicle infrastructure. Last year,
its entire bus and taxi fleets turned electric and it has
one of the world’s most comprehensive networks of
EV charging points. As a result, the sound of Shenzhen
is a purr rather than a roar. What better place to bring
the Range Rover Sport Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle?
Welcome to the future – Shenzhen-style.
There’s an ad everywhere in the city that says,
’Once you come to Shenzhen, you’re a Shenzhener’.
It reveals the super-open essence
of the city. We meet Tat Lam of
social enterprise start-up Shanzhai
City in the newly developed
Houhai district, where many of
Shenzhen’s steel and glass towers
are literally still growing.
Amidst the girders and hard
hats, Tat is explaining the unique
identity that’s been forged in a
few short decades. “Shenzhen is
a start-up version of a city,” says
Tat. “If it doesn’t innovate, it
doesn’t have any value. It’s always
looking for the next thing.”
This energy is the result of
a mixing of people from all
over China, each searching for
something new. Lately, that
includes everything from craft
beer to designer tea with frothy
cheese toppings. Walk the streets of the converted
warehouse district of OCT-LOFT and you’ll find a
low-lit gym where leather Chesterfield sofas rub
shoulders with the weight benches, and the roughand-ready
OCT Contemporary Art Terminal offers
a retrospective of sculpture, 3D printing and film
from artist Sui Jianguo.
“Shenzhen is a series of urban villages where
innovations develop organically,” says Tat. “In that
sense, you could think of it as a crowd city. Rather
Slick and sophisticated,
Shenzhen is not only
home to the world’s
latest trends, but is now
setting its own. Top left:
social start-up founder
Tat Lam, amongst the
city’s fast-rising towers
52

53

XXXXXXX LEFT
54

TRAVEL
People like tech inventor
Robin Wu (top right) and
innovation lab founder
Seth Li (left) are the
driving force behind
Shenzhen’s rise as a hub
of pioneering thinking
than being filled with big mega-projects, here the
crowd decides which small-scale innovations work best.
Those that are popular will grow.”
In the last 20 years, some of these small ideas have
become really big. In a two-square-mile block, you’ll
find the headquarters of tech giants Alibaba, Tencent
and Huawei, and the world’s leading drone company,
DJI. All this development can mean less cool things –
dirt, smog and noise. But here again, Shenzhen has
some neat answers built into its DNA. Across the waters
of Shenzhen Bay, bulbous mountains rise green
out of the heat haze: Hong Kong.
Such proximity has brought with
it some useful ideas. “Shenzhen
“MOST
has learned a lot from Hong
Kong,” says Tat. “Hong Kong
made its mountain areas into
country parks and Shenzhen
followed that model. Now, half
of all space in Shenzhen is green,
which is almost unique in China.”
That greenery is not confined
to the mountains, which snake into
the heart of the central districts. As
we cruise the city, in near-silence
thanks to the Range Rover Sport
PHEV’s electric drivetrain, every
road is lined with palms and
tangles of tropical creepers.
Concrete and glass are juxtaposed
with deep, shaded undergrowth.
Plants even hang from the sides of
skyscrapers. Along these green belts, we pull off
the highway into car parks where EV charging points
stand among the palms and lawns. And there is water
everywhere – cascading, spouting or lying in tranquility.
“All these sustainable developments are simply a
choice between doing something better or doing
nothing,” says Tat. “Most cities have the burden of
history, of existing infrastructure. Shenzhen can make
itself afresh, and the impetus isn’t top-down. It’s about
daring to take risks – and about implementation.
Testing these systems in a small city of 100,000 doesn’t
reveal the value of the innovation. Here you can scale
innovation fast for a city of 13 million. That quickly
makes new ways of doing things popular.”
One man who knows better than most the value of
scaling up to the Shenzhen model is Robin Wu. This
leading tech pioneer is an embodiment of the city’s
spirit. We meet in his 22nd-floor office looking out over
the golfing greens and glass towers of Houhai.
“For the post-1980s-born who come to Shenzhen,
it’s a one-way ticket,” says Robin. “We have to give it
our all. Most of the success stories in Shenzhen are
people who come from other provinces, like me.”
Robin was born in the mountains of Jiangxi province.
Ten years ago, he was part of a pioneering group of
IT specialists innovating such
smartphone features as dual
SIM cards. Today, sitting
surrounded by his latest
prototypes, he believes that
the breakneck period in
Shenzhen’s story is over.
“The new era is moving
towards innovation and worldbeating
competitiveness, rather
than simply manufacturing,”
says Robin. “We’re trying to
innovate products that are not
in the Western markets yet.”
He cradles in his hand his latest
innovation, a small credit cardsized
device that plugs into your
smartphone and converts it – via a
projector or screen – into a laptop.
It’s neat and so simple. Robin’s
company, MeeGoPad, an offshoot
of traditional manufacturing firm Huajian, is an
innovation cell that’s about taking creative risks. Many
of its projects use crowdfunding as a source of capital.
“MeeGoPad is more like a club,” Robin explains.
“People of different backgrounds come together and
share their knowledge to make something new. The
direction of our product line isn’t fixed; where there’s a
need, we try to fulfill it.” He looks out over the
skyscrapers that surround us. “The Shenzhen spirit is
not simply about money,” he continues. “It’s about
deeper motivations – how to improve people’s lives and
make a better community. Within this area there are
300 listed companies, but they don’t forget the small
guys, because we were all small guys not so long ago.”
CITIES
HAVE THE BURDEN
OF HISTORY,
OF EXISTING
INFRASTRUCTURE.
SHENZHEN CAN
MAKE ITSELF
AFRESH, AND
THE IMPETUS
ISN’T TOP-DOWN”
55

TRAVEL
Just across town, Shenzhen Open Innovation Lab is
a space that’s all about connecting the small guys – the
makers of the city – with industrial design companies.
“We were founded as a FabLab,” explains project
coordinator Seth Li. An idea that began in the US, a
FabLab provides project management, website design,
hardware design – all the basics to help a maker
understand how to make a product by themselves.
“We provide fabrication machines to help people
prototype their ideas. We’re open to everyone, and
we host workshops and lectures. A maker can come
here to chat and exchange ideas.”
The exchange of ideas is something that’s
happening at every level in Shenzhen. We step into
the pre-cooled cabin of the Range
Rover Sport, which we’d parked at
a nearby charge point, and head to
Shekou, the city’s original port
area, to visit Design Society.
“Well, Design Society isn’t a
direct translation,” explains its
deputy director, Rong Zhao.
“In Chinese we’re called Design
Interconnected. It reflects our
vision of being a bridge – to the
world, to the local community, and
between makers and the industrial
design companies of the city.”
Eight years ago, China
Merchants, a major corporation,
enlisted Pritzker Prize-winning
Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki
to design this cultural centrepiece THE CITY
for the Shekou port area. In
December 2017, this very public
building opened its doors wide.
“Shekou is a special place,” says Rong. “It’s where
the process of opening up began. It was a test tube of
Shenzhen.” China Merchants began by making a port
to connect to the outside world. With Design Society,
they’re once again seeking global connections.
“There’s a transformation taking place, from ’Made
in China’ to ’Created in China’,” says Rong. “Shenzhen
was the very first Chinese city to be awarded UNESCO
City of Design in 2008. We set out to build on this with
the first initiative to bring a European state museum
into China.” The result is a collaboration with London’s
THE EXCHANGE
OF IDEAS IS
HAPPENING AT
EVERY LEVEL
IN SHENZHEN.
THE MIXING OF
ARTISTRY AND
INNOVATION IS
PERMEATING
Victoria and Albert Museum that includes a permanent
V&A Gallery at Design Society and the sharing of ideas.
“It’s an adventure for both sides,” says Rong.
“We’ve introduced them to design associations, tech
firms and schools in Shenzhen. They’ve brought us
ideas like their community-focused Rapid Response
Collecting project, where members of the public are
asked to donate objects that they feel represent their
community. As a result, a Shenzhen school uniform
is now part of V&A’s permanent collection.”
Even the architecture in which Design Society is
housed is about engaging Shenzheners. “Everything
is open,” explains Rong. “You can move seamlessly
from inside to outside. There are staircases connecting
a roof park with the surrounding
parks. We’ve given the land back
to the public in its entirety.”
And there is a sense of giving
back culturally, too. The most
recent exhibition – titled Craft:
The Reset – celebrated traditional
Chinese crafts of paper, furniture
and ceramic making, but it
celebrates them for, and in,
the 21st century Chinese city.
“More than ever, modern
fast places shouldn’t forget about
craft,” says Jovana Bogdanovic,
one of Hangzhou-based design
trio PINWU, whose celebrated
paper chair for Hermes is part
of the show. “In many ways, craft
influences architecture, design,
lifestyle and cuisine.”
This mixing of artistry and
innovation is now permeating the
city. At the nearby Artron Arts Centre, an installation by
renowned Chinese pyrotechnic artist Cai Guo-Qiang is
displayed against a backdrop of the world’s largest wall
of books, a 30m-tall, 50m-long library of art history.
Shenzhen is now shaping a new role for itself in
the world through its creative response to technology,
urban culture and the need for a sustainable future,
and whichever direction that takes, what Shenzhen will
never do is stand still. Progress is made and the future
is shaped by those who move – and if you move at
Shenzhen speed, you’ll be a pacesetter.
Design Society’s Rong
Zhao (top) sees her
organisation as building
cultural bridges to the
wider world. Right: the
record-setting book
wall, at Artron Centre
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57

G
P
E
E
T
R
T
S
I
O
N
N
G
A
L
Bamford Watch Department
specialises in customising
luxury timepieces. Onelife
goes off-road with founder,
and Land Rover enthusiast,
George Bamford to learn
about his life in watches and
his unique take on luxury
STORY L U K E P O N S F O R D
PHOTOGRAPHY A L E X A N D E R R H I N D
58

59

“LUXURY ISN’T ALL ABOUT THE PRICE. IT HAS TO BE BESPOKE,
IT HAS TO HAVE PERSONALISATION. THEY GO HAND IN HAND”

CRAFTSMANSHIP
Left: George Bamford
with some of his
horological creations,
and out in his lovingly
restored Land Rover 110
tow truck at his estate
in the Cotswolds
To say that George Bamford likes Land Rovers would
be something of an understatement. He really likes
Land Rovers. In garages scattered across his Cotswolds
estate he has 14, among them a Defender, several
ex-military Wolf models, a vertiginous off-road creation
nicknamed ‘The Beast’, and his latest restoration, a
1972 110 tow truck. So it’s little surprise that we’re here,
on Bamford’s very own soggy off-road course, talking
about his custom-made watch business, rather than in
the somewhat plusher confines of ‘The Hive’, Bamford
Watch Department’s headquarters in Mayfair, London.
The epicentre of a business that Bamford started
16 years ago, after deciding to not join the family firm –
JCB, of bright yellow digger fame and one of Britain’s
wealthiest dynasties – The Hive’s consulting room is
where customers can create their very own personalised
watch, poring over the smallest details, choosing
colours, hands, dial options.
Bamford thrives on these details, his obsession with
watches going back to his childhood. “I come from
an engineering family,” he explains as we slither down
a slippery incline in the tow-truck. “It’s in my blood.
When I was small I’d take the TV or the juicer to bits,
which my parents found quite annoying,” he smiles.
“When I was 16 they gave me a Breitling Navitimer and
I took that to bits as well, which annoyed them further.”
But that Navitimer was to be Bamford’s lightning
bolt with watches. He spent the following years, while
studying photography at the Parsons School of Design
in New York, visiting flea markets buying up cheap
old timepieces, disassembling and re-assembling
their movements, learning what made them tick.
While the inner workings fascinated Bamford, many
watch designs left him cold. “I realised that so many
mass market luxury products were the same – the same
black dial, the same steel case,” he says. “So, in 2003,
I decided to personalise a Tag Heuer Monaco I’d been
given. I had the whole watch black-coated – the dial,
case, everything. That was my first customised watch.”
Once he started wearing the black Monaco, friends
started to notice, and wanted one too, so Bamford
had more produced. Bamford Watch Department was
born. Early signature projects from BWD were heavily
customised Rolexes – most notably the all-black
Cosmograph Daytona. But Rolex took a dim view
of Bamford’s interpretations of their classic designs.
Indeed, Bamford’s unique take on these famous
timepieces – black-coating them, adding different
colourways to the dials and hands – was invalidating
their warranties, a major problem when it came to
after-sales servicing. Nevertheless, the personalisation
business continued to grow, so Bamford kept going,
even creating his own in-house service department on
the top floor of The Hive. BWD soon became known
as the world’s premier customiser of Rolex watches.
Everything changed in 2016, however, when
multinational luxury goods group LVMH threw its full
weight behind BWD. “That deal put us in a very good
place,” he says, as we negotiate a near-impossible
incline in the Land Rover. “Getting approval was one
of the best things ever because we could now offer
a manufacturer warranty with our products.”
Abandoning Rolex, BWD focussed its efforts on
LVMH’s three premium watch brands – Tag Heuer,
Zenith and Bulgari. Bamford’s huge range of
customisation options was now fully legitimate,
allowing customers to spec a watch to their own
personal taste, choosing from a total combination of
over a billion options. BWD also started producing its
own range of watches at the same time, the Bamford
London Mayfair and GMT Auto offering a way into
the brand at a more affordable price point.
“The Mayfair comes in 49 colours,” he enthuses.
“And we can customise it further for a small fee. But
luxury isn’t all about the price. It has to be bespoke,
it has to have personalisation. They go hand in hand.
As with my cars, my focus is on individuality. Purists
may not approve, but I love it. I want people to have
what they want.”
It’s a philosophy which is paying dividends. With
boutiques and dealers worldwide and a demanding
market for his wares in Asia and the US, Bamford has
created his own mini empire to go alongside the family
dynasty. There’s also a line of grooming products and
accessories to add to the portfolio.
So, where next for the Bamford brand? Custommade
cars? Bespoke private jets? Bamford smiles wryly
as he pulls the Land Rover into his gravelled driveway.
“Well, short-term we’re launching a new watch just
before the summer and we have new collaborations
happening – totally apart from LVMH,” he explains.
“But if you’d asked me ten years ago, I don’t think
I would have envisaged this business where it is today.
I still constantly think ‘is it going to die tomorrow?’ he
laughs. “But now, being embraced by the brands I’m
working with, I have the sun beating down on me.
I can safely say I love where I’m sitting.”
And you can bet that applies to the now mud-caked
Land Rover as well.
Visit bamfordwatchdepartment.com for more information on BWD
61

STORY S O P H I E B R O W N
PHOTOGRAPHY N E I R I N J O N E S
B A T E
B O L A
Onelife delves into a cultural phenomenon that sees the backstreets of
Rio de Janeiro explode into colourful life every year (and no, it’s not the Carnival
you’re thinking of). As an acclaimed new documentary film reveals, this is...
62

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63

CULTURE
Frills, fur, flashing lights and all that glitters unleash
dazzling energy in Guadalupe, a neighbourhood of
Rio de Janeiro. In their ornate costumes and masks, a
parade of crews take to the streets. With courtly shapes
that recall the historic tradition, but neon designs and
iridescent trimmings that are thoroughly modern, the
look is bright, rich, garish yet regal. After a year of
preparation, the crews are like strutting peacocks.
Parasols, coloured smoke and fireworks fill the air. Kids
rule the streets, full of excitement, bravado and pride.
These and other astounding visions are captured
in This is Bate Bola, a short film co-directed by Ben
Holman and Neirin Jones which takes viewers deep into
the heart of a lesser-known Rio Carnival subculture.
Away from the main Carnival, bate-bola sees
dozens of crews of working-class people put on their
own themed parades, a surreal competition between
suburban neighbourhoods full of elaborate costumes
and props. Equal parts play and menace, bate-bola
has roots in African and European carnival traditions in
which masked men, banging animal bladders on the
ground, would excite and scare the crowds. Today,
bladders are replaced by plastic globes tied to sticks –
the name means ’beat the ball’.
Holman is a British documentary filmmaker with an
enviable collection of stamps in his passport – “Plan
the holiday that you really want to go on, then work
backwards, and find the film that fits,” he jokes – and a
track record of films that reveal bravely poignant stories
from around the world. Like his films, Holman is warm,
engaging and instantly likeable. His energetic, right-inthe-action
approach is immediately evident: one of his
legs is strapped up because he broke it during filming.
Ever since fulfilling a childhood dream to spend
the millennium New Year’s Eve on Copacabana Beach,
Holman has split his time between London and Brazil.
“I’d always had a strong connection with South
American culture through friends I’d had as a teenager.
It created an affinity for me with that culture.”
Holman recalls initial nerves, from preconceptions
generated by films such as City of God; “Yes, there are
gangsters and guns,” he says. “But you see grannies
and children dealing with the situation and getting on
with it as part of their day-to-day lives. And I feel, if
I’m there, the rules shouldn’t be different for me.”
A keen amateur boxer, Holman came across an
NGO in one of Rio's most notorious favelas which
organised boxing for personal development. Seeing
something that went beyond stereotypes of the city, he
developed a strong connection with the community
and began making films for them, hoping to make a
wider impact. One community member, Alan Duarte,
set up his own NGO, Abraço Campeão. Telling Alan’s
story became a labour of love for Holman. The result,
The Good Fight, was deemed Best Documentary Short
at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, leading to funding that
now supports over 200 young people in the community.
Holman’s films are experiential and intimate.
You can feel the atmosphere, excitement, and the
sensory power of the moment. They also give a
platform to marginalised voices: “A recurring theme in
my work is going to places that I feel are misunderstood
or misrepresented, where our knowledge is largely
formed by what the media tells
us, and trying to show the reality.
So the idea of Bate Bola was to
show that beautiful heart, that
warmth that I discovered in those
communities, which is very strong
and absolutely existent. Batebola
is so vibrant. It’s about the
noise and the smells and the
craziness – it’s fun and beautiful,
but also a little bit edgy and
Ben Holman turned in a London ad
scary. I thought it was an
agency job to make documentaries that
shine a light on the world's hidden stories amazing metaphor for favela
communities themselves.”
Holman sees bate-bola
as an example of something that may need external
validation to be appreciated within its own country.
“These people are otherwise invisible. They put on
masks to be seen. Outside their small community
they’re not known, they’re not getting respect or praise
for the beautiful costumes, the art that goes into it all.”
The theatre of bate-bola was echoed in special film
screenings in Chicago and London, which included a
standing audience, a live semi-improvised score with
Brazilian musicians and soundtrack creator Ben Lamar
Gay's band, and an afterparty with monster speaker
stacks to reproduce the carnival vibe. Holman hopes
This Is Bate Bola will bring overdue attention to and
appreciation of the phenomenon, and to Rio’s other
textures beyond Carnival cliches.
“Rio for me is simultaneously the most beautiful
and the ugliest city in the world,” reflects Ben. “It can
get dark, but at the same time, every week I’ve ever
been there, there’s always been that moment of
genuine magic, of something special.”
WATCH THE FILM View This is Bate Bola and learn
more about Ben Holman's work at www.beijafilms.com
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“FUN AND BEAUTIFUL,
EDGY AND SCARY -
BATE-BOLA IS A
METAPHOR FOR THE
FAVELAS THEMSELVES”
65

HERITAGE
REDEMPTION SONG
When Classic Works’ Reborn team
unearthed a Range Rover with a curious
patina, it belied a stellar musical history...
STORY
D A N D R A G E
Land Rover Classic Works’ Reborn programme,
launched two years ago, is an object lesson in attention
to detail and deep-rooted obsession. Its purpose is to
locate and extract milestone vehicles from Land Rover’s
history, then restore them to their full and original
factory specification – a painstaking task which marries
the reconditioning of existing parts with the precision
engineering of new ones.
With Land Rovers being the original ‘go anywhere’
vehicles, donor vehicles to the Reborn programme
can literally turn up anywhere on the globe, from the
highest peaks to the lowest valleys, from urban centres
to uninhabited outposts, from extreme heat to sub-zero
climates. Is this a problem – or a once-in-a-lifetime,
dreamlike opportunity for a Land Rover enthusiast?
“Definitely the latter,” says Classic Works' Calum
McKechnie. “Our staff are Land Rover-obsessed – they
know every single nut and bolt and panel. Whether a
Defender needs pulling out of a cowshed in Romania,
or there’s a Range Rover halfway up a mountain in
the Himalayas in need of
restoration, we’ll always see a
queue of willing volunteers.”
Most donor vehicles to
the Reborn programme arrive
with a story: with Series Land
Rovers, that’s anything from
a dash of paint to homemade
customisations or, in certain
cases, a complete repurposing
of a vehicle’s chassis, even into
fire trucks, mobile libraries
and catering vans. Yet one
particular recent find came
with a story that enchanted
even the most battle-hardened of Classic Works’ team –
especially those with an interest in reggae and roots.
“It all started when we were alerted to the
availability of a 1980, two-door Range Rover, which
had a very unusual history,” says McKechnie.
”Built in Solihull, it had initially been exported to
Germany, and soon after, shipped out again, this time
to Jamaica. There, it had changed colour from Masai
Red to a mixture of black, blue and green. And it was
being shipped regularly between Jamaica and the UK.
“We were interested enough to delve into its
ownership history. The original registration document
bore the name of one Robert Nesta Marley. Basically,
we’d found Bob Marley’s Range Rover.”
Perhaps not the most intuitive of love affairs, but
the relationship between Marley and Land Rover ran
deep. Marley’s other Land Rover, a 1976 Series III truck,
had been recovered and restored in 2015 (see box).
Why did Bob Marley feel the need to covet two
Land Rovers in his adult life? The answer lies in his
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES/DENIS O´REGAN/CONTRIBUTOR
66

67

68

HERITAGE
Best known as one
of the world's most
iconic musicians, Bob
Marley was also a keen
automobile enthusiast
PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES/KIRK WEST/CONTRIBUTOR, AUTO-MEDIENPORTAL.NET, JOHN WYCHERLEY
upbringing in the rural Saint Ann Parish on Jamaica’s
north coast. Known mostly for its status as an
unprecedented hotbed of reggae talent – the
birthplace of Burning Spear, Shabba Ranks and even
Marcus Mosiah Garvey himself – Saint Ann is also
the most agricultural and rugged of Jamaica’s districts.
To fully appreciate its rural beauty, Marley would’ve
required an erstwhile off-roader to get himself around,
a preference he clearly carried into adulthood.
While Marley’s Series III had been left mostly
untouched, he (or members of the Marley household)
elected to modify the colour of his Range Rover.
“Now we’ve extracted Marley’s Range Rover, we
can fully appreciate his own, personal paint job,” says
McKechnie. “Black on the bonnet, green on most of
the door panels, dark blue on the roof – we’ve never
really seen anything like it before.”
Further research conducted by Classic Works
revealed that it wasn’t Marley himself who got busy with
the paintbrush – he actually left that to his children. The
paint job on this particular Range Rover comes courtesy
of Stephen, Rohan and Julian
Marley, all of whom were still
of junior school age when they
“MARLEY LEFT
picked up their brushes. They
THE PAINTJOB TO all recall fondly how their father
would ferry them to school,
HIS CHILDREN” football and the various clubs
they were members of in the
car they decorated themselves.
Indeed, the Range Rover
and the Series III left a lasting impression on Rohan,
who’s now a coffee grower and plantation owner in
Jamaica’s Portland parish – quite the deviation from
his previous career as an American footballer.
“I love driving through the coffee fields in my
Land Rover,” Rohan told the BBC at a 70th anniversary
celebration concert for his father, which featured
his restored Series III as the centrepiece. “You see
farmers driving in their 1970s Land Rovers,” he added.
“You just can’t kill them – they keep going and going.”
The next chapter in the life story of the newly
discovered Range Rover is still being written. “Firstly,
we have to decide on the colour – do we keep the
Marley family mural or do we go all the way back to the
production line and Masai Red,” confides McKechnie.
“Then, we have a number of options, including
putting the car up for auction, donating it to the Bob
Marley Museum or adding it to our own collection.
I’m a huge Marley fan and I’ve already started to
develop something of an attachment.”
CASE FILE:
THE OTHER MARLEY LAND ROVER
The extracted Range Rover (top) now awaiting restoration at
Classic Works is not the first Marley Land Rover to have risen
from the deep. The blue 1976 Series III (above) was restored
in 2015, and even starred in a free concert to celebrate what
would have been Marley’s 70th birthday. Sandals Resorts
International, which operates Jamaica’s Land Rover dealership,
collaborated with ATL Automotive’s master Land Rover
technician Stephen James, US parts supplier Rovers North,
as well as Marley’s family, to rebuild the vehicle. While it’s
not the millimetre-perfect, ground-up kind of restoration
you’d get from Classic Works, it still looks ready to relive
its glory days in the Jamaican countryside.
FIND OUT MORE Follow Land Rover’s global social media channels to
see updates on Marley’s Range Rover later this year. To enquire about
restoring your own heritage vehicle, visit jaguarlandroverclassic.com
69

B O R N
W I N N E R S
The Land Rover BORN Awards celebrate peerless lifestyle design,
and the latest winners exude the perfect blend of style and substance
70

DESIGN INNOVATION
A great design is one that stands the test of time,
and creating one is no easy feat. From the Series Land
Rovers (and their direct successor, the Defender) to,
more recently, the Range Rover Evoque, Land Rover
is no stranger to creating a design that is not only true
to purpose but captures the popular imagination.
Outside the world of cars, too, some brands stand
out better than most when it comes to creating products
with peerless, iconic design. From the Zippo lighter to
the Anglepoise table lamp, the Swi ss Army knife to the
Panton chair, they are universally acknowledged as being
as aesthetically beautiful as they are cleverly functional.
Recognising such feats of peerless design was the
central idea behind the 2018 BORN Global Awards.
The BORN Awards, co-sponsored by Land Rover for the
second year running, are a themed annual celebration
of global creativity, design and ingenuity across a range
of lifestyle categories. BORN was founded by Jean-
Christophe Chopin as a digital premium network of
creative professionals and a B2B marketplace for designled
products. The Awards laud products, and their
makers, that inspire and challenge. Competition is fierce:
this year, some 7,000 entries from six world regions had
been whittled down to just 48, whereupon the stage was
Left: The Brompton
folding bicycle has been
cleverly electrified. Top:
Land Rover design chief
Gerry McGovern lauds
the award winners.
Above: Brompton’s Will
Carleysmith and David
Rhys with their award
set to recognise the best of the best at the awards
ceremony held in London’s Design Museum.
In the Mobility Design category, it was another
much-loved British brand that triumphed: the electrified
version of the Brompton folding bicycle. A design classic,
its lines have remained virtually unchanged ever since
production began in 1981. It’s so common to see
London commuters snappily folding up this small bicycle
to easily carry it into the Tube, or unfolding one on their
way out before smoothly zipping away down the road,
that the Brompton has come to symbolise urban
freedom and convenient last-mile connectivity.
The electric variant, launched last year, feeds the
booming e-bike market with a characteristically neat,
high-quality folding solution. A lightweight, easily
detachable battery pack allied to an ingeniously compact
250-watt motor in the front wheel hub, to intelligently
boost cycling performance and reduce effort. A worthy
winner, for as Land Rover’s Chief Design Officer Gerry
McGovern, who was on the panel of judges at the event,
put it: “To truly deserve the term ’peerless’ takes
imagination, intellect, wit and more than a little wisdom.“
Read on for an overview of the rest of the winners: a
prestigious roster of design heroes and future classics.
71

01
72

BORN AWARDS 2018:
THE BEST OF THE REST
01 INTERIOR DESIGN
Michael Anastassiades’ Flos Arrangements
creates head-turning products that are almost
jewellery-like. The British lighting firm’s pendant
lamps are a modular system of geometric light
elements that gracefully attach to and rest on
each other, with multiple combinations to create
delicate compositions of glowing chains.
Runner-up: Ilia Potemine, Isp Lamp (France)
02 ARCHITECTURE DESIGN
Cino Zucchi’s design of Italian coffee products
company Lavazza’s new headquarters in Turin
bagged the category win. His striking Nuvola
complex regenerates a former industrial site
with an artful blend of nature – at the heart
of the site lay fountains, trees, green spaces,
benches and a pedestrian link – and stunning,
LEED Gold-certified sustainable design.
Runner-up: Ramon Esteve, Bombas Gens (Spain)
03 SPORT DESIGN
Category honours went to Alexandre Fauvet of
renowned French skiwear brand Fusalp. Fusalp’s
’sport-chic’ philosophy marries performance and
elegance to create ski-suits, jackets and shoes
that look equally at home in the après chalet
as on the slopes at Winter Olympic Games.
Runner-up: Teckell, 90° Minuto (Italy)
03 04
02
05
04 LEISURE DESIGN
It took a ban from the NBA for people to
notice what American brothers Ryan and Adam
Goldston had created. Their Athletic Propulsion
Labs sneakers use forefoot compression springs
to give wearers a boost. With supportive and
comfortable TechLoom knit construction, APL’s
distinctive products stormed the sports world.
Runner-up: Clara Daguin, Aura Inside (France)
05 TECHNOLOGY DESIGN
Frustrated with the wastefulness of the fashion
industry, Spanish entrepreneur Javier Goyeneche
launched Ecoalf. Made of recycled materials,
including plastics salvaged from the seas, Ecoalf
clothing, footwear and accessories are now worn
by the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Will.i.am.
Runner-ups: Hugo Mercier, Dreem (France)
and Max Pontrelli, Lap Steel Guitar (Italy)
SPECIAL PRIZES
These were awarded to the Loewe Foundation,
sculptor Nino Mustica, and Scott Painter’s
US-based Fair app. Fair lets people flexibly hire
pre-owned cars, via mobile, without long-term
commitment or debt. A slick, all-digital, endto-end
transactional platform using predictive
analytical technology, Fair proves that clean,
effective design is in fact extremely complex.
73

V I C T O R Y
I
S
M A D E
O
F
T H I S
74

PIONEERS
Bangladeshi mountaineer and human rights activist Wasfia Nazreen is proud to defy convention
STORY: GEOFF POULTON IMAGES: COURTESY OFFICE OF HH DALAI LAMA, SEBASTIAN GRAU
Wasfia Nazreen never imagined she’d watch the sun
rise from the top of the world. Her journey to the top
of Mount Everest was a treacherous one, battling
extreme cold, sickness and the daily threat of deadly
avalanches. The frozen bodies of perished climbers
she encountered along the way offered a stark
reminder of the danger. As she neared the summit,
more than 8,000 metres above sea level, the first tears
began to fall. When Nazreen finally reached the top,
she was sobbing uncontrollably, overcome with
gratitude. “After feeling so alone on the ascent, I
suddenly sensed a connection to every single being.
My entire life flashed in front of me. I felt tinier than a
bug on these Himalayan gods and goddesses.”
Climbing Mt Everest in 2012 was a life-changing
experience for the 36-year-old from Bangladesh, giving
her a “newfound realisation of how limited our time on
Earth is and a fresh strength and perspective for
activism”. Nazreen doesn’t just climb for herself: it has
become her way of promoting strength and hope for
women, both in her native country and beyond.
Everest was just one part of ‘Bangladesh on Seven
Summits’, her tribute to the fortitude of the women who
had suffered during Bangladesh’s war of independence.
In 2015, she reached the top of Carstensz Pyramid in
New Guinea, becoming the first Bangladeshi, and one
of just a few hundred people, to climb the highest
peaks on each of the world’s seven continents.
At each summit, Nazreen proudly displayed the
Bangladesh flag, before pulling out a collapsible hula
hoop and twirling it around her hips. “I was chastised
for doing this as a child, so I do it for me and the girls
Nazreen‘s conquest of
mountains is a tribute to
Bangladeshi women. Top
left: Showing the Dalai
Lama a photo of Tibet
taken from the peak of
Mt Everest. Top right:
atop Mt Denali, Alaska
back home. It’s my way of saying ‘No more’.”
Nazreen grew up in Chittagong, Bangladesh’s
second-largest city. After finishing school in the capital
Dhaka, she received a scholarship to a college in the US
to study art and psychology. Her thesis on how women
use art as therapy took her to numerous regions in
India, including Dharamshala, home to the Tibetan
government in exile, where her passion for the
mountains and human rights grew. She worked for aid
organisations before deciding to combine her passions
for climbing and activism full time; she works to raise
awareness of human rights abuses and climate change.
Despite the “love” she received from all over the
world, as a Bangladeshi woman, completing the Seven
Summits presented major challenges – and not just the
physical, mental, financial and logistical. “I encountered
discrimination, insults, even death threats. But these
only serve to make the rising feminine force stronger.”
A self-confessed perfectionist, Nazreen considers
planning an expedition an art form. Logistics work will
often begin months, even years in advance, alongside
her year-round physical training. “No matter how well
you plan, though,” she says, “you also have to accept
that almost anything can and will go wrong.” Nazreen
aims to start each day with meditation. “Mindfulness is
essential while climbing, and mountaineering is a
source of reflection and calmness for me.”
It’s an unconventional career choice, she admits,
especially coming from a society in which everything
she has chosen to do is considered ‘abnormal’ or
‘taboo’. “But that’s exactly what I’m most proud of:
Living the life I choose to.”
75

S T O R I E S U N D E R F O O T
What’s your ultimate voyage of discovery? How about... time travel?
Palaentologist Kenneth Lacovara takes us on a journey to the centre of the Earth
76

ESSAY
IMAGE: STOCKSY/ CATHERINE MACBRIDE, PORTRAIT: ROBERT CLARK
Would you like to visit an improbably wondrous place? One
shrouded in mystery, but generous in tantalising glimpses of events
so epic and so otherworldly that knowledge of them is bound to
strain the credulity of all but the most ardent readers of fantasy?
Look down, in your mind’s eye, through the carpet, the flooring,
through whatever impediment separates you from the Earth below.
The place where you now find yourself is likely, in its own vast
history, to equal in splendour the most celebrated natural wonders.
No view on Earth is more vaunted than that which can be had
from the rim of the Grand Canyon in the US. Descending from its
rim down the eight-mile Bright Angel Trail is a soulful experience,
a journey nearly two billion years in time, a visceral voyage through
the many past worlds that have been our Earth. It’s a transformative
experience that leaves many travelers with an overwhelming
feeling of connectedness to the land, and to the
vast arc of time.
Heated and squeezed metamorphic rocks
form its twisted basement. Above these sits a
towering edifice of sedimentary rock that records
the many marine transgressions and regressions
that have yo-yoed this region from land to sea
and back again over the last half-billion years.
Within these layers of sandstone, limestone
and shale are fossils that tell the story of a
succession of life, from bizarrely primitive
ancestral varieties below to more familiar modern
forms above. Yet, geologically, this is fairly
standard. What makes it special is that the pages
have been laid bare for all to see.
The erosive power of the Colorado River has split the plateau
asunder, revealing the history that lies below. In geology, exposure
is everything. The Earth’s lithosphere – its uppermost layers, namely
the crust and the mantle – is the repository of our planet’s history.
Though its volumes contain epics, the library is mostly shut – closed
to us surface dwellers, except when erosion and uplift conspire to
reveal a page here or a chapter there. You have lived your entire
life traversing the uppermost pages of countless unseen stories.
With a little effort, you can catch a glimpse of the deep time
tales that surround us.
When heading away from Manhattan, look across the River
Hudson and you will see dark towers of rock rising from the edge
to form a stony fortification. The 300-foot-tall Palisades are a view
of one of the most dramatic moments in planetary history, when,
200 million years ago, tectonic forces tore apart the then supercontinent
Pangaea. As the Earth’s crust thinned, along a line that
would later become the Atlantic Ocean, magma below welled up
to form vast pockets of molten rock. These convulsions released
immense quantities of CO 2 into the atmosphere and tipped the
climate into runaway global warming. These sudden changes killed
most organisms. When the worst of it ended, at the end of the
Triassic Period, over 75% of all species had vanished.
“WITH A LITTLE
EFFORT, YOU CAN
CATCH A GLIMPSE
OF THE DEEP TIME
TALES THAT
SURROUND US ”
At the time, the dominant large land animals were
the ancestors of crocodiles. Dinosaurs, still early in their
tenure, struggled to compete against these larger, fiercer
contemporaries. Both groups survived the mass extinction,
but the crocodiles took the worst of it. With the playing field
now leveled, dinosaurs flourished, and evolved into the dizzying
variety of species that would completely dominate terrestrial
ecosystems across the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. And
every traveller across the George Washington Bridge can
simply glance up and see the incredible apocalypse that
triggered this biological revolution.
This example is by no means unique. Look down from
a porch in San Francisco and you’ll see rock deposits that
have skimmed along the western edge of North America –
passengers on a tectonic conveyor belt that
will eventually deposit the city’s bedrock into
the heart of Alaska. Cruising the Pennsylvania
Turnpike motorway from Philadelphia to
Pittsburgh, you’ll transect the Appalachian
Mountains – once part of a chain of peaks that
included Morocco’s Atlas mountains and parts
of the Scottish Highlands. Beneath any
swimming pool in Florida lies limestone laid
down in a warm sea terrorised by history’s
largest shark, the 40-foot-long megalodon.
Hike Colorado’s Front Range mountains, and
you traverse the former coast of an interior
seaway that stretched from the Gulf of Mexico
to the Arctic Ocean. Along its beaches roamed some of the
best-known dinosaurs, from the Stegosaurus to the Apatosaurus.
So, take another moment to contemplate the place where
you are. It’s guaranteed to be amazing – a unique slice of this
world’s 4.5-billion-year history, set in stone. To find out its
incredible story, search online for its geological history, visit
your local museum of natural history, or grab a tool and dig
for yourself. Train your eyes to see the rockbound stories that
lie underfoot, and you’ll never look at your world in quite the
same way again.
MEET THE AUTHOR
KENNETH LACOVARA
is a founding director of the
Edelman Fossil Park of Rowan
University, New Jersey, and
the author of Why Dinosaurs
Matter (Simon & Schuster, 2017).
Watch his TED Talk, “Hunting for
dinosaurs showed me our place
in the universe”, at TED.com
77

OFFTRACK
A R E W E T H E R E Y E T ?
For antics big and small, adventurer Ben Saunders finds the Discovery a trusty ally
In spending long tracts of my adult life dragging a
sledge around the polar regions, I fear I may have been
guilty of perpetrating the myth that if a journey doesn’t
cross the Arctic Circle or take in a little of the barren
Antarctic Plateau then it doesn’t qualify as a proper
adventure. The truth is that each hour I’ve spent on
the ice has been preceded by many, many rather less
glamorous hours of preparation and training. I suspect
the modern-day polar explorer’s ratio of time spent
in a sledge harness versus time spent working on
spreadsheets is probably approaching 1:1.
One of the perks of the job, however, has been the
commute. As I prepared to head to Antarctica in 2013 –
to start a two-man, 1,800-mile expedition that went on
to break the record for the longest ever polar journey
on foot – I lived with my dog in a small London flat.
Battersea Park wasn’t going to be the best spot to train
for our ascent of the fearsome Beardmore Glacier, so
getting ready entailed more than a few road trips.
The Land Rover Discovery turns 30 this year: three
decades of expeditions, of exploring the planet and
human limits. In my decade of ownership I’ve clocked
up a six-figure mileage, shuttling between training trips
in the hills, moors, fells, plateaus and valleys of Wales,
the Lake District, Scotland, the Alps, even Iceland.
In between, the venerable Disco has also been
pressed into service to deliver me suited and booted
to meetings with sponsors and black-tie charity
speaking engagements.
One of the strange paradoxes of my career has
been the peculiar anti-climax of reaching the biggest
goals. I skied solo to both Poles, and completed
the Antarctic journey that had defeated Shackleton.
At the finish lines there were no fireworks, just a
curious mixture of exhaustion, relief and a vague
feeling of reticence about returning to the real world.
There’s truth in the adage that the journey is the
important part, and not the destination.
It’s these long journeys that I have loved the most.
Adventures that have involved a Land Rover full of
friends in muddy walking boots and rucksacks, a wet
dog in the boot, a flask of tea, and a plan to walk
over a hill or two.
And while I’m certain that the coming years will
involve returning to the highest latitudes, I’ve also
made a promise to myself that I will make more time
for road trips to the hills with friends. And that I’ll
spend a little less time working on spreadsheets…
78
PHOTO: XISCO FUSTER

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